Horayot 9

The third chapter of Tractate Horayot opens with a mishnah that includes two sets of laws:

An anointed priest who sinned and thereafter moved on from his anointment, and likewise a king who sinned and thereafter moved on from his prominence — an anointed priest brings a bull and the king brings a goat. 

An anointed priest who moved on from his anointment and thereafter sinned, and likewise the king who moved on from his prominence and thereafter sinned — an anointed priest brings a bull and the case of a king is like that of a commoner.

The first set tells us that the sacrifice a high priest or king must bring for an unwitting sin that occurred while they were in office does not change if they are unable to bring the offering until they leave office. The takeaway is that it is the moment at which the sin took place that determines the offering, not the moment when the sacrifice is brought.

The second set teaches that if the sin took place after leaving office, the obligation of the former king changes but that of the former high priest does not. From this we can infer that a former high priest is still treated like a high priest but a former king reverts to the status of regular citizen.

You may have noticed that the rule for the high priest is the same in both circumstances — whether the sin occurred during or after their active duty, they have to offer a bull to atone for their sin. Given the Mishnah’s predilection for brevity, it would have been more efficient for this mishnah to focus on the king, for whom the rules vary based upon when the sin took place, and then note that this distinction does not apply to a high priest, who sacrifices a bull in both situations. The Gemara notes this as well, suggesting that the first case is obvious and need not have been taught. This is one of those situations where the editors of the Mishnah were focused on structure rather than brevity. The intention was to teach about the rules for the king and contrast the second one with the high priest. Since the high priest was mentioned in the second case, the editors included the high priest in the first as well so that the two cases would be presented in a parallel way.

You may have also noticed that this mishnah doesn’t say what kind of sin the high priest or king committed. One possibility is that it is talking about the main topic of this tractate — namely, that the sin was issuing an erroneous ruling that was followed by a majority of the people. Alternatively, the mishnah could be referring to an erroneous ruling that they made that led them to sin themselves, building on the first mishnah of chapter two and adding information about the king. Or the mishnah could be a continuation of the final mishnah of chapter two, which discusses the sacrifices that are brought for unwitting sinful behavior in and of itself. The text of the mishnah is not clear and can be (and is) read a number of different ways.

For the high priest, the difference does not matter — in both of these cases, they have to offer a bull if they sinned, whether they have led others or merely themselves astray. For the king, however, how we read the text makes a difference with respect to their obligation in case number two. If the mishnah is talking about a situation where the king makes a ruling when they are no longer sitting on the throne, they are exempt from bringing an offering just like any other commoner who offers a decision. Since they do not have any authority to issue a ruling, they are not accountable if others follow them. 

But if the text is talking about a decision they made for themselves, they are responsible for their own action and they do have to bring a sacrifice. However, they no longer are required to offer a male goat like they would have during their reign, but rather a female one, which is what a regular person is supposed to bring.

Looking ahead, the Talmud explores a third scenario in which the sin occurs before being the king or the high priest are appointed and discusses at what point they begin to be treated differently. Based upon today’s conversation, can you anticipate what the Talmud might have to say?

Read all of Horayot 9 on Sefaria.

This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on September 10, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.